Kathy Shower, Playmate of the Year, 1986

If you're planning to meet Kathy Shower for dinner, be sure to arrive at the restaurant a little early and find yourself a spot near the end of the bar. That way, you get to watch the less fortunate men in the room when she comes in. Then, as you escort her into the dining room, you can finish them off with a glance over your shoulder that says, "Eat your hearts out!" It'll put a swagger in your step for weeks to come.

Kathy has that effect. We first fell under her spell when she appeared on our April 1984 cover. Our enthusiasm for her only increased when she was featured as our May 1985 Playmate. Our first-ever Playmate of the Year phone-in demonstrated that thousands of our readers felt that Kathy was special, too; they registered their overwhelming support for her. (By the way, thanks to all 100,584 of you who took the time to register your choice for your favorite Playmate during the two-week calling period last December.)

Kathy, you'll recall, is an actress. She credits her gatefold appearance for her recurring role in the daytime series Santa Barbara. Her character, Janice Harrison, is almost as versatile as Kathy. During the past few months on the show, she has been a chauffeur, a waitress, a model and, in a case of art imitating life, a magazine centerfold. The real Kathy is also a single parent, with two lovely daughters, Mindy, ten, and Melonie, seven. Those all-consuming occupations would be plenty for two lives. But Kathy has neatly shoehorned them into one very successful package: part mother, part television star. And if she ever wonders whether she's a star who's also a mother or a mother who's also a star, her girls will set her straight immediately.

"When I took them to the set to visit," Kathy remembered, laughing, "they wanted everybody's autograph. The other people on the show were the real stars. As for me, they'd just say, 'These people are famous and you're Mom.' Keeps you humble. Keeps you very humble. And they're right. I'm just working. And Playboy has helped in that regard. This is the first recurring role I've had in a series, though I've done many guest shots. And I'm glad to be there. I love the people I work with. The thing about doing a daytime drama is that you become like a family. It's very comfortable for me. At the same time, it is a challenge. It is difficult to be a character for 14 hours and then have to drive home and be the mommy and the nurse and the caretaker and all those other things as soon as you hit the door." Still, Kathy is willing to put up with the strain. "I've been a dancer since I was a little girl, and I love performing. I did musicals and plays for a number of years. But I had no idea that I would one day be on television regularly---actually making money and supporting my little family." (text concluded on page 158) Playmate of the Year(continued from page 123)

At Ohio State, Kathy only minored in drama; her major was education. She has the credits to be a teacher but has never used them. "Well, this thing started happening for me," she explained,"beginning with modeling. But I've done many other jobs, as every other struggling survivor has done, I'm sure. Waitressing and working for the phone company and working as a head bank teller. I also have a cosmetology license. I mean, I've done every job possible! And it all pointed to this."

Kathy sat back in her chair and turned philosophical. "When I was in an acting class out here in Los Angeles, I had an instructor who used to say, 'You have a trunk of emotions and experiences that you can use, and when you have to prepare for a certain role, you'll find that more useful than anything.' And I think that's been true. All the tragedies, problems and happy moments fill up a trunk that I can go into and be a bank teller or a school teacher or a mom...any of those things.

"I would like so desperately to bring back the Katharine Hepburn kinds of roles. To me, she's what Hollywood is supposed to be. I had a chance to get a taste of that last summer in Bogart, a play I did at a theater in West Hollywood. I played the Hepburn character from The African Queen. It was the most gratifying part I've played in seven years of acting.Everybody has an idol, I guess, one you kind of pattern yourself after. Well, she's it for me."

Kathy's dual career leaves little time for socializing. When we asked her about it, she looked stunned, as though she'd just remembered a pot she'd left on the stove. A social life is one of those things she has planned for the future. She's as romantic as the next person; it's just time that's lacking. What might a suitor do to impress her? "Send flowers," she sighed."I am such a sap for that. Flowers on my door step mean more than anything else you could give me. Or just a simple card, on days other than birthdays or Valentine's Day. Those 'just because' days."

She hasn't changed one bit from the girl who grew up in Brookville, Ohio. "No, I'm not spoiled," Kathy said with conviction. "I don't think I ever will be. I can have just as good a time with a guy in a Volkswagen as with one in a limo. Dependability---that wins out with me. Of course, every girl would love it if she could be picked up in a limousine and taken to the theater or a wonderful French restaurant, like the one we're in right now. It's just such a treat for me. I've enjoyed this immensely, but I don't have to have it."

What Kathy does need right now is a home for herself and the girls. And that's how she intends to spend the $100,000 she will receive from Playboy---in addition to a sleek white Jaguar XJ6---as our Playmate of the Year. She has in mind "an adequately sized home. I would love to live up in the mountains, where it's quiet and secluded. Eventually---I'll probably be 90 by the time I get this!---I'll have everything there. I mean, my house will have a pool, a sauna and a gym, so I don't have to fight the traffic to enjoy those things. Plus a room---maybe just two by two, with hardwood floors and one ballet barre--- where I can tap-dance my heart out."

That really doesn't sound like such a big dream, but Kathy's visions are practical ones, and she works hard to make them all come together. "I've been happy. I've been lucky. I've got friends in every sense of the word. And now I'm just working toward that little place for my children.I don't want to keep moving them from apartment to apartment, because they need roots."

House or no house, with a mom like Kathy Shower---actress and Playmate of the Year---Mindy and Melonie already have roots to make them proud.